


In This Life

by rinappe



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Aliea Academy - Freeform, Familial Bonds, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26754982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinappe/pseuds/rinappe
Summary: The Genesis has proclaimed themselves to be the top ranking team of Aliea Academy. But after some reflection, they realize they’re nothing more than children.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	In This Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nigoi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nigoi/gifts).



> for the Inazuma Writing Exchange on tumblr, I got n01101001goi!   
> It was really challenging trying to imagine what they would go through after the Aliea ordeal but I enjoyed it so I hope you enjoy it too!!

“Treat them gently.”

The humans in blue herded the group into the cramped building, which was hundreds of times tinier than their now collapsed headquarters back on Mount Fuji. It was ridiculous really; they had gone from standing at the top of Japan, to standing at the base of it, battered, weakened,  _ human . _

The Genesis stayed silent, in general, with a few gruffs and a few huffs. One began sniffling, muffling quiet but violent sobs as best as they could. One brave policeman approached to comfort her but the cold teal eyes of the red-headed leader stopped him in his tracks. Frozen yet burned at the same time, the man refrained. 

They were brought into an even smaller room, with no light except for the sole lightbulb hanging in the center, and the only furniture was one large sofa and a mat. Once all the ‘aliens’ had been brought to the room, they were all informed of their overnight stay, in police custody, before any further action would be taken. Yet, before the police could shut the door after their few words, the chilling voice of the aliens’ leader would never fail to control them.

“What of the other teams? Reize? Desarm? Burn and Gazel?” He spoke, burning holes into the adult’s head as he demanded answers.

“They have been placed... in separate rooms. You will all be treated equally, do not worry. Until tomorrow.” And the door was shut.

Silence filled the room. Not a single word. Not a single breath. Until they couldn’t take it anymore.

“What... What’s going to ha-happen to us now?” Quill stammered, choking back all her suppressed tears as she tried to steady her trembling body by holding onto Wheeze. “We can’t... We can’t be...”

The cracks in her voice failed her, as she broke out into sobs, her entire body now trembling in effect. Her cries seemed infectious, as Wheeze began to choke back on tears and panic began to arise from other members...

“Silence!!” 

This command bellowed from the one and only Ulvida, as her icy blue eyes cut through Quill and Wheeze, ceasing their cries. She stormed over to them with a sneer, viewing them as nothing more than dust.

“All that training against the Aliea stone, all that power we gained, and this is all you have to present?” She scoffed. “Pathetic. Father will have you thrown out for sure.”

“Ulvida,” the sullen voice of the red-haired captain, whose hair had drooped after all the excitement of the headquarter’s collapse, was enough to make her glance over her shoulder and she smirked at the pathetic sight of their ‘leader.’ He was the fitting image of a fallen leader.

“I see we have a disagreement here now, hm?” She jeered. “To have the audacity after that flimsy display.”

The jab at his pride didn’t bother him, rather he was over it now. 

“Ulvida, you should stop, this isn’t the time-“ 

“Our dear Gran, captain of Gaia. We had such high hopes for you to lead us and yet, here we are at the humans’ mercy,” she scoffed. “Just what authority do you have over us now?”

“Yagami.”

Silence had a new meaning the instant the name was said. It would’ve been considered a feat had they not detected the rising tension in Ulvida. In Yagami.

“Do not call me that,” she mumbled, her glares now challenging teal eyes. “She doesn’t exist.”

“We both know that’s not true...”

“Stop,” she was growling now.

“You know who you really are, Yagami Reina.”

Something snapped.

“There is NO Yagami Reina!” She screeched, slamming her hand against the wall, causing some of the room’s other inhabitants to jump. “I am Ulvida of Aliea Academy, the vice-captain of the Genesis, whose sole role is to serve the best to Father. There is no role for Yagami Reina, so therefore she. Is. Dead!”

“Have you forgotten who you are, GRAN?!”

Gran. What a name. Derived from the ground. The one who would rise from the ground. The one who would bring Aliea Academy up from the ground. The one who should’ve brought Aliea Academy up from the ground. 

“Make me proud,” he could still feel the joy he had felt when his father had bestowed him that name, as well a certain purple jewel around his neck.

But was he truly Gran? Was he really the alien captain of Gaia, who would fulfill his father’s wishes? Or was he Kiyama Hiroto, the young boy who just wanted to prove his worth to his ‘father’?

So he decided, then and there.

“Nemuro, Kujirai.”

The two perked at their names, baffled upon hearing it for the first time in months.

“Kii, Ishidaira, Hanesaki, Komazawa,”

The four let out small gasps, feeling a pang of familiarity as their name, their real name got called.

“Kui, Kiyoshi, Yuu,”

The captain gave them a soft smile, calming both Kui and Yuu from their worries as Kiyoshi held them tight. Then finally, he turned to the seething blunette, who flinched at his gaze.

“Yagami,”

“I told you, she doesn’t exist...” her voice cracked, as she clenched her teeth and fists. She assumed a protective stance, a desperate last attempt to protect everything she had believed in the past months, only to have it broken down by a hug from the last person she’d ever want it from.

“Yagami, you don’t have to force yourself anymore,” he cooed. “We can be ourselves again.”

So she finally surrendered herself, to the reality that no, they weren’t aliens who were fighting for their father. They were just children who were trying to please him. She broke down, wailing uncontrollably as she clung onto his shirt. Like a domino effect, everyone joined in, with tears welling up and running hot down cheeks. Despite this, they all got closer as they brought one or another into a tight group hug, like the family they were. They weren’t alone after all; they still had one another.

And that was all Kiyama Hiroto wanted.

* * *

Things were calmer now, as bowls of warm soup and cups of tea were passed around the room. Blankets and pillows had been given to them as well, with some having already made a pillow fort on the couch, while others had banter over the portion of Izuno’s soup.

“Hey Kiyama,”

Hearing Yagami call him by his real name after all the fuss previously made him twitch in surprise, but a wave of relief washed over him. They were back to normal now, as things should’ve been.

“What is it, Yagami?” There was a hint of subtle happiness in his voice as he turned from his reflection in his tea to her, but it was undetected.

“Do you think that...” she took in a deep sigh as she gazed into her own reflection in her tea. “We could’ve done better to please Father? To actually fulfill his dreams?”

The lack of response from Kiyama gave her the answer. “We’re pathetic.”

“You know that’s not true, Reina,” Kii cooed as she stroked her back in comfort. “We all just wanted to show our gratitude Father the best we could, who knows how dull our lives would’ve been without him.”

Kiyama couldn’t have said anything better. 

Every orphan at Sun Garden knew they had no parents, all for varying reasons. It was an unwritten rule passed on from the seniors that every child were told of this tragic fact. To accept it as their identity, and move on faster, they had said. They carried on this act, believing that if these poor children couldn’t get a normal childhood, they deserved to know the truth at least. 

So to make up for it, they made everything else a joy. A new child meant a new family member. An adopted child meant they finally got the parental love they deserved. They protected one another, being the family members they’d lost so early in their lives.

But even that would never be enough to prevent the sadness from taking over.

The initial sleepless nights that tormented them, as wicked thoughts tricked them into believing in their incompetence to have parents, to be loved. The muffled screams into pillows, the cries for mamas and papas, and the sore red eyes that were experienced by every child, the Aliea participants being no exception.

Yagami Reina could never forget her first night at Sun Garden. Waking up in a foreign room with strangers hovering over her, it would’ve been a miracle for a four year old child to not scream out fo her parents. Even despite the sore throat and the discolored bruises that covered her body, she cried out for her mama, who she would later learn would never come back. So she decided to never trust another adult again.

Then Kira Seijirou came.

It was a dream that the children couldn’t believe was real. The slick black limo pulled into the front of the shabby building, and out came a stumped man with a face like the Buddha. With his Buddha-like face (and his daughter), he’d bring smiles to these children’s faces every week, bringing stories, toys and love. He was the father figure they had all yearned for, bringing light into their lives.

“He gave me hope you know? That maybe, I had a chance at a normal childhood,” Akutsu chuckled. “Like I deserved to at least know what it was like.”

Nemuro nodded. He was 6 at the time he had first held a soccer ball. He wanted to join all the other kids in playing but was conscious of his size. Yet Seijirou stayed by his side as Nemuro practiced, catching the old man’s gentle kicks and raising the ball up in triumph each time he’d successfully blocked the goal. 

“Good job,” Seijirou had congratulated as he pat his head, giving him the assurance that a father would. 

“I used to be jealous of Big Sister Hitomiko, having such a kind father like him. She’s even just as kind!” Kui proclaimed proudly before sniffling away a tear. “No wonder she left us for Raimon.”

Ishidaira looked down in guilt, remembering the exasperated face Hitomiko had made when she had seen them all turn to the Aliea meteorite. She had run up to him, asking desperately if he knew what he was getting into, that he didn’t need to follow her father’s words if he didn’t want to. Whether it was the stone or his own selfishness, all he knew was that he had been annoyed at the fact that Seijirou was ‘her father.’ Seijirou was ‘their’ father and he wasn’t going to let her take that away from him.

They were all guilty for this. Hitomiko had participated in numerous Sun Garden events, raised lots of money through fundraisers, and even taught them during her spare time. They had betrayed their loving older sister, of course she sided with the enemy.

“We’re pathetic.”

“Childish.”

“Desperate.”

“Well, we were all blinded by our admiration for Father, we couldn’t help it,” Komazawa sighed. “But we all know we’re just a replacement for  _ him _ .”

He did not mean to eavesdrop that day, all Hanesaki wanted to do was go to the toilet. But hearing the desperation in his beloved ‘father’s’ voice, who was begging the other end of the call to reopen the case of Kira Hiroto, the stifled sobs and the cracks in his voice, the little boy couldn’t help but go up and give the man a hug, swearing to himself that he would repay all the smiles he had given them.

“We could never be replacements for Kira Hiroto,” 

The sharpness of Kiyama’s voice attracted all eyes onto him, as he’d barely spoken the past hour. There was a dark sadness in his eyes as this fact dawned onto everyone else.

Anyone with eyes would’ve been able to see the similarities between Kira Hiroto and Kiyama Hiroto. Passionate red hair, sparkling teal eyes and a gleaming bright smile. Everyone knew of Seijirou’s favouritism towards Kiyama, even more when he started addressing Kiyama as his own son’s name. 

And no one, not even Kiyama himself, questioned it. 

Rather, he was ecstatic. He’d be able to give Seijirou what he’s yearned for all these years, in return for all he’d given them. Yet, Seijirou never cracked a genuine smile. It was the same smile he’d shown them, no matter what. 

That’s when Kiyama Hiroto realized he would never be able to fill up the hole Kira Hiroto left in Seijirou’s heart. 

The sullen mood of this discussion left Kii at a bit of a sour note so she brought up a new topic instead; Raimon. 

“Raimon really proved to be the perfect opponents for us, didn’t they?” she chirped, hoping to brighten up the mood. 

Chatter arose from the topic of Raimon. 

“Really, they were interesting from the very start,” Kujirai chuckled. “Challenging us again despite such humiliating scores.”

“I’m glad we were defeated by Raimon,” 

Nods and agreement filled the room. It was especially impressive considering the number of members they’d sent to the hospital during their first match. Compared to them, who had trained against the Aliea meteorite for months, Raimon was meant to be a team of nothing. 

Yet they proved to be more than that. 

First, they managed to recruit the Prime Minister’s daughter, Zaizen Touko. A girl whom they’d previously pondered to be used as a hostage, turned out to be a soccer loving maniac with a strong sense of justice. 

Then, the versatile Bear Killer, Fubuki Shirou. Switching from defense to offense, and even achieving a higher level of skills mid match, there was no way they could ignore that. 

The petite Kogure Yuuya seemed to be nothing more than a brat but being able to tie with Epsilon simply with his addition was more than impressive. Great things truly came in small packages. 

The self proclaimed Queen of the Field Urabe Rika was also another girl they could not scoff at. Using Aliea’s old equipment to improve her and her team’s skills in such a limited time period was another thing on its own, Kui even added how she took forever to clear the running machine when Triple C took a month. 

Tachimukai Yuuki unlocked a whole new potential to Raimon, introducing a libero option and a whole new range of goalkeeping techniques to the team. Nemuro couldn’t help himself from confessing to his admiration for the rookie goalkeeper, as a fellow goalkeeper. 

The wave known as Tsunami Jousuke truly washed everyone out. A complete rookie at the sport, no one would’ve been able to predict the soccer potential that might have been cultivated by his surfer talents. 

And of course, Endou Mamoru. The heart of the team, the heart of the sport some argued. 

“Kiyama really couldn’t keep his eyes off him,” Izuno sneaked a cheeky grin at him, making his target flush in embarrassment. 

“Some things were just too fascinating at the time,” he protested, averting his eyes away from everyone else, bringing out laughs from them. 

“I’ll have to agree with Kiyama here,” Komazawa pat the redhead’s shoulder. “There was just something about Endou Mamoru that made the entire sport more enjoyable.”

The boy’s passion, the boy’s unwavering belief in his teammates, the boy’s pure love of the sport. It reminded them the reason they even played soccer in the first place, the reason that they had forgotten in their pursuit to please their father. 

“In the end, I’m sure we can all agree that it was Raimon’s camaraderie and passion for soccer that defeated us,” 

“Well, guess we’ll just have to beat them in those aspects now! We practically grew up with each other playing the sport, there’s no way we can lose anymore!”

Everyone agreed in unison, with laughs and smiles on their faces. They wouldn’t let themselves be defeated anymore, especially not when they had each other.

* * *

  
Kiyama stirred to the sound of an alarm clock that had been conveniently been placed by patrolling guards, and went to shut it before it woke anyone else. Slapping it off, he looked over the sleeping faces of his family and smiled to himself. 

“Everyone—“

“Time to wake up kids, your time’s up!” A policeman barged in, loud voice booming throughout the small room. 

Groans sounded as they all struggled to get up, some stretching themselves awake, some just ignoring the wake up call. 

“Oi, wake up, Izuno,” Yagami sleepily slapped his side as he grunted himself up. 

“You’re all truly still children, aren’t you?” A familiar homey voice giggled. 

“Big Sis Hitomiko!”

Hitomiko appeared behind the officer, entering the room, immediately getting a hug from Kui. Though slightly taken aback by the abruptness of it, she hugged back, beckoning the others who seemed eager to join them. And join them they did. 

“Well, you kids did destroy several buildings but Kira Corporations have taken responsibility for that, so you’re all free to go,” the policeman smiled. “You’re all under her custody now.”

“We can go home?” Kui gasped as Hitomiko smiled with a nod.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come back to you all,” she apologized. “I needed you all to realize for yourselves...”

Kiyama took Hitomiko’s hand into his own, gripping it tightly. “No, thank you for training Raimon,” he bowed. “For reminding us why we play soccer.”

Everyone else joined him, as the thank yous resounded throughout the room. Hitomiko looked at them warmly, thankful to be able to have met such wonderful children. 

“Should’ve cut your stupid tulip head when I had the chance,” they could hear Suzuno’s voice sounding from the back.

“I’d like to see you try!” Nagumo’s voice shot back and they started hearing crashing as Saginuma’s reprimanding was drowned out. 

“Oi, Kiyama, hurry up! Let’s go home!”Midorikawa yelled.

Home. They would be going home. Back to Sun Garden. Back to their family. 

Back to their usual, human selves. 

With tears in his eyes, Kiyama took Hitomiko’s extended hand as she brought them out of the room, welcoming the warm morning sun.

“Yes!”

* * *

Kiyama Hiroto had a dream. A dream where maybe, Kira Hiroto hadn’t died. 

Kiyama was chasing the figure that stood at the other end of his dream. As he ran towards the figure, the figure’s red hair grayed and frizzed, he slowly shrank down to Kiyama’s height, and a flash of blue shone on his face. 

“I’ll make your dreams come true.”

While he knew that he wasn’t the Hiroto he’d seen in Seijirou’s office pictures, something in Kiyama’s heart told him that it was the Hiroto he’d taken the name of. 

Maybe if Kira Hiroto had lived, they would’ve met. 

Maybe if Kira Hiroto had lived, they would’ve played soccer together. 

Maybe. Just maybe. 

In another life, they could’ve been friends. 


End file.
